Pelletier sentenced to seven years for home invasion, assaultBack to video

The man’s wife and 10-year-old daughter were present.

Justice Lian Schwann considered Gladue factors to determine whether Pelletier’s life as an Aboriginal person might have led him to this point.

“There must be some context or explanation that assists me in understanding why he gratuitously beat up (the man) and part of his family; none was offered,” Schwann said Friday at Court of Queen’s Bench in Regina.

The victims’ names are not public to protect the girl’s identity.

Pelletier, Darren James Tawiyaka and Sydney Christy Starr entered the family’s home on Nov. 6, 2015.

Once inside, they restrained the mother and child and beat the man, who received broken ribs, among other injuries.

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During an April trial, the wife told court the assault was the result of a photo posted to Facebook of the husband flashing a gang sign after he had left the gang.

Schwann said courts will come down hard on home invasions because they are a violation of a peaceful society.

Pelletier made a modest effort to shield the girl from the assault, said Schwann.

Starr’s sentence, seven years minus remand credit on July 22, served as guidance for Pelletier’s sentence, said Schwann. Given time already served, Pelletier has four years and eight months remaining in his sentence.

Tawiyaka’s sentencing has been scheduled for Oct. 27.

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Crown prosecutor Leona Andrews suggested a 10-year sentence, less remand, for Tawiyaka, which would work out to roughly eight years and nine months.

Tawiyaka’s defence lawyer Tyne Hagey argued 10 years would be “inappropriate,” as “he wasn’t the mastermind behind the events” — but simply a follower.

Andrews characterized his involvement in the crime as “impersonal, callous and cold,” as he’d had no connection to the family — it was “random.”

Tawiyaka laid his hands on all three victims, and the child had nightmares after seeing her father assaulted, said Andrews.

Tawiyaka had two prior break and enter convictions, and was unlawfully at large at the time of the assault, said Andrews.

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Hagey referenced other home invasions wherein the culprits received seven-year sentences, but the injuries and circumstances were more serious: They had weapons, or they wore masks, or permanently disabled the victim.

Nobody in this incident wore masks or used weapons, and the victims’ injuries weren’t as serious.

The wife and daughter’s injuries in this case were “minor,” Hagey said.

Parallels can be drawn in Tawiyaka and Pelletier’s lives, their histories briefly described on Friday.

Both men are 32. Both are Aboriginal. Both had alcoholic mothers and absentee fathers. Both began to act out at age 12. Both are interested in educational programming while incarcerated.

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Both want to remain in the Native Syndicate.

Pelletier has “assertively proclaimed that he should not be prejudiced by being a member of a street gang,” said Schwann.

“If he was genuinely interested in rehabilitative and restorative measures, ending his gang affiliation is the obvious first step.”

Pelletier said he had wanted to leave gang life at age 19, but no opportunities were available to him.

Tawiyaka has substance addictions that haven’t been dealt with, said Andrews, and he has expressed no desire to leave the gang lifestyle.

“Those two factors make him a very significant risk to reoffend … (as) he’s not prepared to deal with those factors,” said Andrews.

Pelletier has had 35 separate offences since 1999, which run the gamut from property, administrative, drugs, weapons and assault.

Tawiyaka has had “virtually no gaps in his record,” said Andrews.

Pelletier is credited with saving the lives of two inmates while on remand. He was also a leader in a couple of hunger strikes at the Regina Correctional Centre last year.

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